Iraq's armed forces started an offensive against Islamic State in the northerly Nineveh province in what a military statement described as the first stage of an operation aimed at liberating the city of Mosul.

A Qatari Land Force, consisting of a mechanised infantry battalion of the Armed Forces, left here yesterday for Saudi Arabia to participate in ‘Ra’ad Al-Shamal’ manoeuvre which will be carried out at the King Khalid Military City in Hafr Al-Batin.